


Bound

by TrenchcoatsandMisery



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Demon Hunters, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF Inej Ghafa, Demon Pekka, Demon Summoning, Demons, F/M, Jesper is an Empath, M/M, Nina is a witch, Werewolf Matthias, Wylan is an alchemist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-06-30 11:47:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19852528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrenchcoatsandMisery/pseuds/TrenchcoatsandMisery
Summary: Written from Umidunnostuff's fantastic fic "A binding contract". Loved the fic so much I decided (with permission) to keep the idea going!Inej, Jesper, Matthias and Nina interrupt a demon summoning at Jan Van Eck's. There they find a shadow demon called Dirtyhands, an abused alchemist and accidentally set loose a demon on Ketterdam. Lucky for them though, Dirtyhands happens to have a score to settle with the demon Pekka Rollins, so togther they try and save the world.Romance, Kaz being Kaz, magic.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Umidunnostuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umidunnostuff/gifts).



> Hi! Kudos to Umidunnostuff for this amazing idea. Mine is nowhere as good as theirs, but I just wanted to write my take on it so here we go.

“I’m not saying we’re in the wrong place, but are we sure _this_ is where it’s going down? I mean…”

Jesper reached out and batted the hummingbird feeder in front of him, a look of incredulity on his face.

“He has a bird feeder. **A bird feeder**.C’mon!”

Inej had to admit that the place wasn’t normally where they’d expect to stop a greater demon summoning, the manicured lawn and tasteful Victorian house screaming rich asshole more than nefarious cult leader. But the rich did strange things with their money and the anonymous tip-off they’d received had said that tonight one of the richest businessmen in all of Ketterdam was doing some serious black magic right here. 

“Nina, what do we know?”

Sighing, the witch pulled her spellbook from the folds of her red dress, a stark change from the dark colours of the other's clothes but embroidered with runes and sigils that marked her as a heartrender. She was the only one of their motley crew who had any training in sorcery.

“Frankly Inej, we know sh-“

“Language”

Matthias had risen to join the other three as they stood in the shadows watching the house. Nina poked her tongue out at him, Matthias' lips curling as he looked away.

“Shoot all. We know shoot all. It’s gonna be big though, powerful. I can feel the energy from here and it’s not good.”

Inej could feel it too. A buzzing in the air, like electricity, accompanied by a cold sickly feeling that settled deep within her bones. It had not escaped Inej’s notice that the rest of her team seemed to be suffering its effects as well; Jesper, a natural empath, was almost shaking from the energy of it, while Matthias' eyes had turned into that of his wolf’s, the power affecting his control. Whatever Van Eck was summoning was not good, and the sooner they put an end to it the better.

“Matthias, stick with Nina. Jesper, deal with the guards and, if possible, try find the anonymous source from inside the house. I’ll deal with whatever comes out of the circle. Let's do this quick and easy guys, no death, no mess.”

Thirty minutes later as she drove a knife into a cult member's eye, Inej remembered why she left the pep talks to Nina. The cult members were almost dealt with but something huge, dark and masked by swirling red fog was growing in the summoning circle. Nina, eyes screwed shut and armed with a ball of energy in each hand, was furiously chanting as Matthias, half transformed, growled by her side. Van Eck had been wounded by one of Inej’s knives before finishing the ritual, the thing inside weak and barely holding onto this plane as he shouted commands for it to attack, but Nina was channeling all her energy in keeping it warded. Somewhere in the house gunshots were being fired, Inej praying to her saints that they were Jesper’s bullets and not the guards. 

The ward broke suddenly, a sharp cry from Nina the only warning Inej had before a mass of red fog barrelled towards her. She let loose two knives as she rolled out of the way, one hitting its mark and the other simply phasing through it. The creature roared at her, and she uttered a curse under her breath as talons and fangs manifesting before turning back to coiling mist. Another curse followed as the air around it trembled, distorting and bending as if an invisible wall.

“Inej!”

She spun to see Nina calling to her at the other side of the room, flipping through her spellbook with a frantic look on her face.

”It’s not anchored correctly! Be careful, something could follow it throu-“

The air beside the beast ripped, black smoke seeping out, pouring onto the ground and rising to solidify into a vaguely humanoid shape. For a second everything was still. Then black lunged at red and chaos descended. Across from Inej, Van Eck staggered against the wall with shock visible on his face. The black shape was relentless and his own demon seemed to be suffering the consequences, it’s impressive size no match for the speed of the shadow. He shouted a muffled command to his creature, the thing turning incorporeal and rising into the air before swirling around Van Eck, disappearing. 

Jesper skidded into the room, bloodied and breathing raggedly but with a grin on his face and a wild look in his eyes. The excitement on his face froze though when he looked towards Inej. He lifted his gun and for a second Inej saw white before the bullet flew past her shoulder and into something behind her.

The smoky black silhouette of a man stood behind her, a hole in what would have been his shoulder, curling with tendrils of smoke. Slowly, the shape looked down at its wound, before lifting its head as the smoke knitted itself together. Inej got the strange feeling that they were being laughed at. Matthias was the first to spurred into action, lunged forward, more transformed then before, a wolf attacking with brute force. The shadow whirled around, solidifying into arms wielding _a cane?_ it’s fighting style brutal and quick. 

“Nina, do something! I can’t get a shot with your boyfriend in the way!”

“ _I’m trying_ Jesper! I don’t have anything to bind him too”

Matthias roared as the thing landed another hit, the thing now solid enough to make out a coat and the glint of white teeth as it let out a snarl, attacking again. 

“Use me!”

She sprinted towards Nina, sliding to where the witch kneeled. She had drawn a shaky ritual circle in chalk, grasping and cutting Inej’s hand as she reached her. Blood dripped into the circle as Nina began to chant, the words old magic that seemed to tug at Inej, but Matthias let out another yelp of pain and she was running with a knife in both hands. Her eyes met the demons, bitter coffee eyes that were surprisingly human narrowing as she lifted her first knife. It flew through the air, the perfect arc, and…  
He caught it. Lifted it, aiming straight at Matthias’s heart. Drew his arm back to throw it.

“Inej!”

Both demon and Inej turned to look at her.

“You can command it!”

“STOP.”

It froze.


	2. Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang teams up, a deal is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy buckaroos! I'm not dead! Just so tired from Mock exams, preparing to move to England and work. Hope it's all good, remember to check out Umidunnostuff's fic

Everyone was still. The demon had stopped inches away from Matthias, the knife at the height of its arc and the cane, topped with a sharpened crow's head, seconds away from plunging into the shapeshifters side. He had been moments away from death. Matthias let out a growl and the demon snarled at him in response, though didn’t move any closer.   
Nina, standing in the corner clutching her spellbook to her chest, let out a giggle. 

“Holy shit. Holy. Shit. It worked. I did not think it would, but it did!”

Jesper stepped forward, humming in thought and scratching his chin with a gun.

“I’m out of arcane bullets and I don’t think my regular supply will work, so the kill is yours Inej. Use your Jesus-“

“Sainted.”  
“Use your _sainted_ knives then. Let's get this over with so we can go find the big fella and Van Eck.”

She stepped forward, her other knife gripped in her hand. The Demon watched her as she approached and she couldn’t help but feel nervous. He looked so… human. The demon had taken the appearance of a tall boy dressed in a long coat and tailored suit, only just older than her, with dark eyes and sharp features. She’d dealt with demons that were nothing more than a rolling mucous membrane, huge behemoths, even possessions of everyday civilians. But there was something shockingly human about the determination in its eyes, an animal kind of fierceness, the eyes of a survivor. In a way, he reminded her of herself, because her eyes had the same controlled rage within them. She placed the point of her knife where his heart would have been took a deep breath and-

“I wouldn’t do that”

His voice is surprisingly low, the sound of gravel and of stone. She thinks for a second he might beg for his life, doesn’t know if she can stomach it if he does. But his tone is earnest like he is simply stating a fact. She ignores him though because he is a demon and she is a demon hunter and demon hunting 101 is that demons are liars. So when she presses the knife into his chest and feels a burning feeling in her own she doesn’t flinch, just keeps pushing as the pain increases.

“STOP!”  
For the second time tonight everyone stops, turning to the voice. It comes from a boy, covered in soot that does not hide his wild red hair, childish face and his fairly high-quality clothes. Jesper groans at the sight of him, walking over and grabbing his shoulder in an attempt to pull him out of the room.

“I told you to stay put. What part of demon hunters do you not get! We are here because there are demons. That means bastard sons of demon cult leaders stay SAFE and away from things that will literally EAT them at the first chance.”

Matthias, who is back to being more man than beast, glares at Jesper.

“Did you just say ‘bastard son of cult leader’?”

Jesper grins weakly. 

“I was going to tell you, but y’know…”

He waves his hand vaguely at the demon standing in the room.

“Demons. So, ladies and gentlemen, this is Wylan Van Eck. Son of the crazy, rich, asshole and our cult leader of the night, Jan Van Eck. Wylan is also the mysterious informant who has been contacting us… W!”

The boy is scowling at Jesper, whose smile is losing its brightness every second that passes. Wylan shakes his head and turns his attention to inej.

“Don’t kill him. You’d be killing yourself.”

Nina interrupts with the kind of smile a kindergarten teacher gives a gluestick eating boy.

“Who studied magic here kid? I did this ritual and…”

“But you didn’t finish your teachings though.”

It’s the demon this time.

“Young witch, should have payed more attention in class. You bound me to this plane through your little wraith but you also bound me to her. If I die she dies, if she dies I die, bound in blood and soul.”

He pauses, locking eyes with Inej.

“Lucky for you though, I’m willing to make a deal. Pekka… the demon has a long history with me and I’d be more than happy to help you hunt him down.” 

“Or he could be lying. Demons are liars, conmen, snakes slithering in the grass.”

Matthias growled at him and the demon grinned in response. It should have been laughable with him frozen in that position, but the paleness of Nina’s face and the fear in her eyes as she stared at her spellbook, then at Inej, grounded the moment.

“I, uh, think he might be right. I… it’s deep magic and I never finished my lessons and…”

It was no secret that Nina’s coven had gone into hiding years ago, all the knowledge with them burned and scattered across Ravka. What little she’d kept was all they had to work off and while helpful, only just scraped the surface on the intricate workings of dark and powerful magic like binding spells.

“What do you want in return?”

“To be released from the bind, if your witch can figure it out. Pekka to die. Preferably Van Eck too. I don’t think your young friend would mind me tearing his father apart.”

Inej opened her mouth to object but the boy, Wylan, beat her to it.

“I haven’t been let outside of the grounds in two years. He sacrificed my mother to a greater demon in return for gold to fund his black magic experiments. I’m pretty sure I was what that thing Pekka was supposed to eat tonight. I say it’s a good deal”

Inej was tired. A quick job had apparently turned into a world endangering event, her ragtag band of demon hunters increasing by two, a wild-eyed boy with serious daddy issues and a shadow creature with a crow head cane. It was quickly becoming clear that the demon might be the only way to stop Pekka and Van Eck, which didn’t make her feel any better about being tied to it or about what she was going to do next. She turned to the demon, ignoring Matthias’ exclamation of protest.

“You can move. You must not harm me or my friends. You will answer all questions truthfully and must not leave our sight. Now, what should we call you?”

The demon, rolling his shoulders as he settled into a more comfortable position, tapped gloved fingers onto the head of his cane before lifting one up in mock salute.

“Dirtyhands. But seeing as we’re a little _closer_ than colleagues you may call me Kaz. Now let’s go kill a demon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Another chapter is coming, I'm still writing it to get to where Umidunnostuff's ends so I can spin it a little more. Sorry it's taking long, I've got 'derived grade' exams which I should _probably_ be studying for but sssh.


End file.
